Falling for You
by sierragust
Summary: After getting out of the destroyed Holy Isle, Marcello encounters and soon falls in love with a beautiful young woman in a village unfamiliar to him.


A.N: **This is going to be a crossover between **_**Naruto **_**and the eighth installment of the **_**Dragon Quest**_ **franchise. The time of this story takes place before and after **_**The Last Naruto Movie **_**and after the destruction of the Holy Isle of Neos and after Marcello, who's Angelo's half-brother, left the destroyed Holy Isle after the Black Citadel rose in both versions of **_**Dragon Quest VIII**_**. This will explain how Marcello got a brown trench coat in the 3DS remake of **_**Dragon Quest VIII**_**.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and/or Dragon Quest VIII.**

**X~X~X**

Groaning as he continued walking away from the destroyed Holy Isle of Neos despite the heavy wounds that continued to bleed through his clothes, Marcello pressed a hand on his shoulder and continued to limp towards whatever he went to. The pain was quite unbearable as he squinted his eyes and noticed that he was close to a nearby village located in the forest, but he pressed onward until he collapsed in the middle of the road, unaware that two guards were checking on him.

"Oh...Kami! He's injured pretty bad!" One of the guards said as he checked Marcello's pulse. "Get him to the hospital, Izumo!"

"Right, Kotetsu!" Izumo said as he hoisted Marcello onto his shoulder and carried him to the hospital.

**X~X~X**

Slowly opening his eyes and shielding them from the sun that shone through the window, Marcello could make out a young woman, who was peeling an apple with a knife and cutting it into pieces on a plate. She appeared to be in her teens with bright emerald eyes similar to his. Her hair carried the colour of bubble-gum pink, her silky and sleek locks shone from the bright rays of the sun, and the tips of her locks had touched and reached past her shoulders.

"You're up! I'm sure you must be famished." She said as she took a piece of apple and presented it to him. "Here you go."

"I don't want your help!" Marcello said angrily as he smacked her hand away from his face and getting up, his head spinning as he sat down on the bed again.

Suddenly, a few knocks on the door were heard as a blonde-haired young man, who was about the same age as the young woman, walked into the room. His face had three marks on the cheeks which closely resembled a cat's whiskers while he had a prosthetic right arm.

"What's going on?!" He asked as he looked at the pink-haired woman.

"He smacked my hand away while I was treating his wounds…" She said, fighting the urge to cry.

"First Sasuke and now this guy…?" The blond said as he looked at Marcello.

"Where… where am I?" Marcello asked as he pressed his hand against his head and remembered what he had said to Angelo before he left the Holy Isle of Neos.

"_You will regret the day you saved my life…" Marcello said coldly, looking at his brother._

"_You know, I really don't care." Angelo said as he turned away from his injured brother. "Go on. Do your worst. You can't hurt me anymore."_

"You're in the Hidden Village of the Leaves — otherwise known as Konohakagure." The pink-haired woman said as she looked at him. "My name is Sakura Haruno, and that guy is Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?"

"Marcello." Marcello said as he thought of a last name, then remembered the late Abbot Francisco. "Marcello Francisco."

As he watched the two leave, Marcello laid back down on the bed and closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep.

After a while, he was woken up to the sound of a knock on the door as he turned to find a raven-haired woman standing behind it.

"Oh! You're awake!" She exclaimed, sitting in the chair next to him. "Sakura told me your name. Anyway, I'm Shizune."

"A pleasure to meet you." Marcello said, smiling briefly at her before she left and looked at the window.

**X~X~X**

After he fully recovered, Marcello walked through the streets of the village having already bought a dark-brown trench coat and a pair of black pants along with a dark-blue turtleneck. He also had his familiar rapier on him and his boots and gloves.

Just as he was about to walk out of the village, he stopped as a familiar voice rang out.

"Marcello, where are you going?" Shizune asked, looking at him.

"I'm going to check up on my brother." Marcello said, remembering Angelo for some reason as he fished out something that looked like a wing of a mystical animal. "Don't worry, I'll be back."

"What are you…?" Shizune was about to say when he pressed his lips against hers, running his gloved fingers through her hair as he broke the kiss and looked at her.

Without another word, Marcello threw the chimera wing up into the air and vanished.

**X~X~X**

His feet firmly landed on the dirt road as Marcello immediately made out a familiar wagon, with a familiar green monster and a beautiful mare. Knowing that it was King Trode and his daughter, he figured that Angelo was in the cave that the two were standing outside.

As he entered the cavern, Marcello noticed that the traps were deactivated as he continued making his way to the lower chambers, noting that the chests were busted open already.

Heading down into the lower chambers of the Altar, Marcello noticed a familiar band of people kneeling before a vicious monster, immediately noticing that one of the people, a silver-haired young man who was wearing a white yukata with blue patterns on the sleeves, was Angelo. Immediately realizing that they were about to get smashed by the monster, Marcello immediately drew out his sword and sent a wave of energy towards the beast and severed the spell that was holding his brother captive.

"WHAT?!" The monster, aptly named Juggerwroth, exclaimed as he noticed that his spell was broken. "My spell is BROKEN?!"

Sheathing his sword and making himself known, Marcello looked at the creature.

"Dear me, what a disappointment." Marcello said, his bright emerald eyes burning with a fierce glow. "You so nearly had it in the bag."

"Marcello!" Angelo said, shocked at his brother that saved his life. "What are you doing here?"

"More humans?!" Juggerwroth asked as he looked down at the five humans in front of him. "You creatures get everywhere. Just how big is your little party?!"

"Oh, we're not together." Marcello said, still not taking his eyes off of the beast. "Most certainly not."

"Prepare to suffer, you meddling worm!" Juggerwroth roared at Marcello. "Unlike the rest, I mean to kill you slowly."

"I'm hearing a lot of talk, but not seeing much action." Marcello said before smirking and taunting the beast. "How about we dispense with the chatter and you let me do what I came here to do. By which I mean 'destroy you'?"

"You dare to make light of me?!" Juggerwroth roared as he started to take on a bright-pink hue. "I shall turn you to dust!"

After a long grueling fight, the heroes had emerged victorious.

"No… not again! NOT AGAIN!" Juggerwroth roared before he exploded in a million pieces.

Sheathing his sword, Marcello turned his head towards Angelo's question.

"Why did you come here, Marcello?" Angelo asked, looking at his brother that once hated him.

"To settle a score. Nothing more." Marcello said, looking at his brother. "You could have died in a ditch for all I care, little brother. But not before my debt was repaid."

As he started to leave, Marcello added. "And now, it is."

Before he left, Marcello could instantly hear Angelo call out to him.

"Marcello!" Angelo said, pausing for a moment before saying. "I… thank you!"

Turning his head back once again, Marcello smiled briefly before he left.

Once he was back outside the cavern, Marcello threw another chimera wing up into the air and vanished from sight.

X~X~X

When he arrived back at the Leaf village, Marcello noticed that it was snowing as he walked through the streets of the village and opened the door to Shizune's house, immediately locking the door as he made his way inside the building.

"By the Goddess, it's freezing out there…" Marcello swore as he rubbed his hands together and noticed that the fireplace wasn't on.

Quickly casting a small fireball towards the logs in the fireplace, Marcello could hear the front door open and a familiar female voice rang out.

"I'm so happy that Naruto and Hinata got married…" Shizune said as she wiped her tears away from her face.

Entering the living room, she was shocked to see a pair of bright emerald eyes looking at her, the candle burning brightly in the room along with the raven-haired man that came with the emerald eyes.

"Marcello?" She asked, looking at the raven-haired man that was sitting in the armchair next to the candle.

A beautiful smile crossed his lips as he walked towards her and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm back." The former Templar said as he kissed her again.


End file.
